BEIRUT (Dispatches) –
Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement and its main ally say they are ending their boycott of cabinet meetings after a three-month deadlock.
The groups, which together back several ministers from various portfolios, made the announcement on Saturday.
The two groups said in a joint statement they would attend cabinet sessions to approve a new budget and measures for dealing with the two-year crisis, and to discuss a recovery plan. They said they would attend because of the accelerated economic deterioration in recent weeks.
Since late 2019, Lebanon has been mired in a deep financial crisis that has caused the Lebanese pound to lose around 90 percent of its value to the dollar and led its banking system to collapse.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a statement he welcomed the decision to end the boycott and would call for a cabinet meeting as soon as he received a draft budget from the Finance Ministry.
Hezbollah and Amal initiated the boycott as a form of protest against the handling of an investigation into the huge Beirut port blast in 2020, which killed more than 200 people and injured thousands..
The groups have sought the removal of Judge Tarek Bitar, who has been overseeing the investigation, denouncing his “politicization” of the probe.
Last year, Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary-general, said Bitar “tends to pin the blame on others. He is not reliable anymore,” adding, “families of the victims have grown very suspicious of his behavior.”